About Youth-Nex

Youth-Nex is a trans-disciplinary center focusing on three core domains: a) Out-of-School Time; b) Educational Systems: Middle School; and c) Community Engagement: Civic and Political. Central to its work is a translational approach to scholarship and innovation which aims to expand and apply the science of Positive Youth Development to enhance the strengths of youth and to prevent developmental risk such as violence; physical and mental health issues; substance abuse and school failure.

View the Youth-Nex Brochure

Mission
Youth-Nex aims to expand and apply the science of positive youth development to address fundamental challenges facing societies around the world.

Youth-Nex ENGAGES Around Three Goals:

1. To provide rigorous, timely, evidence-based research that informs and is informed by practice and policy,
2. To realize the synergies of an interdisciplinary research center situated in a university with distinguished educational scholars and able students,
3. ​To provide a community of scholarship where faculty, researchers, and students are supported in their scholarly efforts.

Youth-Nex ACTS Around These Values:

1. The assets of youth (capabilities, talent, and motivation) are foundational resources for innovation and problem-solving that societies often overlook at their peril,
2. Policies, programs, and settings pertinent to youth must be informed by sound science that guides how youth assets are understood, applied, and promoted,
3. Optimizing the advancement and use of asset-based knowledge about youth requires multidisciplinary, cross-sector partnerships, and
4. To assure relevance and applicability, youth have a role to play in efforts to develop and apply new knowledge.